


December 13th is bullshit

by Pandaora



Series: Mystery people all around [4]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Christmas, Drinking, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:55:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandaora/pseuds/Pandaora
Summary: Gotham's winters are cold, but crime doesn't hide from it so neither can the vigilantes.This includes Red Hood.This story takes place somewhere between "Jason Todd and friends" and "Reunion"
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: Mystery people all around [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836892
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	December 13th is bullshit

It’s cold. Early December. Gotham at its worst. More or less. Even Nightwing, who is usually warm all the time, needed a jacket today.    
As much as Red Hood liked swinging from rooftop to rooftop, the wind hitting his exposed skin told him to take a small break and finally drink that tea he brought. He really wishes he had his hood now, but he was a dumbass and it needed repairing at the moment. He settled for a rooftop high up. One of the towers. He takes a seat and relaxes a little.    
‘ _ Finally… _ ’   
  
He looked out over the city and exhaled. It had been snowing a little. The city seemed to glimmer more than usual due to the frost. The steam from his tea looked so calming and inviting. He sat there for a while and just took it all in. It was quiet up here.    
Or so he thought. When he listened for it, he heard a small voice humming, uttering words in a vaguely familiar language. He frowned and stood up to inspect, expecting to find another cape seeing as no normal person would be able to come up here. On the other side behind the bend sat a familiar figure. He was playing with something small in his hands, the city lights reflecting in his glasses.    
He stood and listened to Horus singing. It was… nice. His voice didn’t change after every sentence, which was odd.    
  
“Nice song.” Red Hood said. Horus flinched and looked over. He had tear streaks on his cheeks and his chin.    
  
“M-Mr. Hood. Nice evening we’re having, hm?”   
That ridiculous shiteating grin. Red Hood frowned and took a seat.    
  
“Yeah… Aren’t you cold wearing just that?”   
Horus was wearing his usual clothes, having only added a big green sweater. 

Horus shrugged and was still smiling, but the edge of his mouth was twitching. The smile was so strained. Red Hood recognized the expression.    
‘ _ If I talk I’ll break down… _ ’   
  
“So… What was that song?”   
  
“A Swedish song…”   
  
“You know Swedish?” Red Hood chuckled.    
  
“My boyfriend is Swedish. He taught me some traditions and songs as well as most of the language…” He let out a deep sigh. “He loved this time of year…” Horus’ voice broke a little. Red Hood noticed a familiar scent in the air now.

‘ _ Has he been drinking? He’s sharing an awful lot… _ ’   
  
“Oh yeah? Where’s the guy now?”   
Horus was silent and finally the smile disappeared.    
  
“I don’t know…” his voice was so small. “You know… That song is ridiculous…”Horus said with an unamused chuckle.    
  


“ _ The angels gives us hope and faith _ _  
_ _ They sing about peace on our earth. _ _  
_ _ The one that God never abandoned _ _  
_ _ A star is shining bright. _ ”

He translated with a scoff. His mouth formed a small snarl and he grabbed his thermos. He unscrewed the lid and a nice scent escaped it.   
“The angels don’t sing about shit… And God doesn’t care. He gave up on us long before Jesus was even born… He’s an asshole, sitting on some high horse pretending to be important.”   
  
“Well I mean. He  _ did _ create the universe.” Red Hood chuckled.    
  
“Not alone he didn’t. Shitty of him to take all the credit…”   
  
“Not a believer, huh?” 

Horus shrugged and took a sip from his thermos. “What is that? It smells… sweet.”   
  
“It’s called Glögg… Dean loved it… He said it’s tradition to drink it on the 13th…”   
  
“Ah...” was all Red Hood could say about that.    
They sat in a silence, aside from small sniffles coming from Horus. This is the first time he has seen the brat cry. He didn’t like it. It made him remember that Horus was a person after all.   
  
“You know… Maybe you should try being more open minded to religion? Some say that it helps them handle emotions.”   
  
“I don’t doubt that God exists. I’d be shocked if He didn’t. But if He cared, why hasn’t He helped me already?” Horus’ voice grew louder and more desperate towards the end. “I’ve tried to pray ever since I got stuck in this shit hole!! He doesn’t care about me more now than He did when I was a kid!!” More tears fell. “I keep begging Him to bring my Dean back to me! But He. Doesn’t. Fucking.  _ Listen _ !! Such fucking bullshit!! It- It-” Horus gasped a little and whimpered. He spoke again with a low and fragile voice. “It’s so unfair… I’ve never asked Him for anything for myself… ever… Not even in my darkest hours… and when I do it falls onto deaf ears… I don’t ask for much… I just want my boyfriend back… Is that so much to ask…?”    
Horus looked so very small right now. Red Hood put an arm around him.    
‘ _ Okay. So he clearly doesn’t have good experiences when it comes to at least abrahamic religions… _ ’   
“Want to tell me about this… Dean guy?”   
He now saw what Horus was playing with. A silver locket. Horus sniffled.    
  
“He’s an asshole. A douche, really.” Horus said, but there was no spite in his voice. He sounded fond. “But he’s my douche…”   
  
“How did you meet?”   
  
“In school. Our first ever conversation ended in a fight.” Horus chuckled. “He pushed me, I pushed back, he punched me, I tackled him. Mrs. Evanora had to pull us away from each other!” Horus laughed at the memory. “He had a blackeye for the rest of the week. We couldn’t look at each other without spitting an insult… He often went for my sexuality, I commented on his looks and brains… I sabotaged a date he had once. I was very openly gay, see? I used it to my advantage. We hated each other’s guts...” The smile he was wearing now was warm and genuine, if a bit sad.   
  
“Wow.” Red Hood chuckled. “How did you ever end up together?”   
  
“Mmm… I had a shit week once… A shitty month really. I cared a lot about my grades. I barely even slept… I was also in a… bad relationship at the time… And then I got a 90% on my test… I wasn’t too happy, but then that fucking bastard got a 95% and shit hit the fan. He was supposed to be an idiot! You know?! How did the  _ idiot _ get a better score than me? He didn’t even study that much!! I walked up to him and slapped him hard. I yelled at him. It probably made no sense to him.” Horus laughed. “Then I left the classroom after throwing my own paper at him. I ran into a forest close to the school, and the bastard followed me. He checked on me…” That fond smile again. “I yelled and threw pinecones at him and pushed him and in the midst of it all… I confessed to him… And… And he returned my feelings. We made out for a while. Turns out we had both had feelings for each other for a while… Then we remembered that we were already in relationships. We agreed to break up with them before trying with us, and… Then we started dating. Dean’s girlfriend didn’t take it well, and neither did my boyfriend… But I had a good friend by my side…”   
  
“Damn… You said you were in a bad relationship…”   
Horus nodded.   
  
“Yeah. He broke my arm and threatened me in attempt to make me stay when I broke up with him. The fucker was already cheating on me, but nope. He needed to have me as well. My friend came in and then my dad turned him in. He got thrown into jail.”   
Red Hood didn’t know what to say to that so they sat in silence for a long while. Horus kept sobbing and drinking.   
“You don’t happen to have drugs on you? From a drug bust or whatever?”   
Red Hood scoffed.   
  
“No. And even if I did I wouldn’t give it to you.”    
Horus cursed lowly and he glanced out over the city, though Red Hood doubted he actually took in the scenery.    
Horus started humming a little again, occasionally being cut off by the need to sniffle.    
  
“I didn’t used to like green…” he then said out of nowhere. Red Hood raised his eyebrow. “I thought it was an ugly color… Then Dean’s house color happened to be green and gold and now the color makes my heart flutter. Specifically this shade.” he gestured at his sweater. He then set his cup and thermos to the side and wiped a few tears with the sleeve. “Isn’t it odd? How much a simple color can make you feel? Something so meaningless suddenly meaning more than most anything…”    
Red Hood didn’t say anything to that.    
Horus’ lips quivered, then he doubled over on himself, crying heavily into his hands, covered by the sleeves.    
“I-I can’t decide if I love or h-hate the color anymore!” he said with a small gasp and hiccup. “It reminds me of him, but the mere thought of him hurts so  _ fucking  _ much! I feel like my heart is literally being t-torn to pieces.”    
The boy trembled and cried audibly, not bothering to keep his sorrow quiet.    
The vigilante kept quiet through this, just being there if the other needed it.    
Once the crying calmed down, he spoke.   
  
“You feeling better?”    
Horus gave a small nod. “Good… So. Why are you up here of all places? I’d figure you’d stay inside and break down, not sit on a roof of a tower in the cold.”    
Horus let out a trembling breath and glanced up at the sky. You could see a few stars despite the thick clouds.   
  
“I’ve heard the cold could be numbing, figured I’d give it a shot… Maybe try my luck at flying, depending on how unbearable it got…”   
Red Hood’s head snapped to the other in alarm.   
  
“You were planning to kill youself??”   
Horus just smiled.    
  
“Yeah… Then I realized how cruel that would be to my boyfriend… I swore to him that we’d meet again… We promised each other… But I can’t deny that I’ve considered slipping on rooftops every now and then this month…”   
  
“Horus… Horus, that’s-”   
  
“Fucked?” Horus filled in with a cold chuckle. “Stupid? Tell me something I don’t know. I’ll be waiting.”    
Horus turned his head to look at the figure next to him. “Don’t worry. My subconscious won’t let me. It’s against my nature to lie to those I love. I’ve promised too many people that I’ll fight to stay my life, be it against the demons in the world or in my head.”    
Horus grabbed the thermos again and scoffed. “Though why you’d be worried is beyond me…” he said and stood up, swaying a little. He muttered a curse, closing his eyes as he tried to regain his balance.    
Red Hood stood up and helped him stand straight. If he strained his ears he could probably hear a broken ‘thanks’ coming from the other.    
They stood in another silence while Horus gathered himself, then he spoke.    
  
“Kinda cold today, isn’t it?”   
Red Hood let out a small chuckle.   
  
“Yeah. Gotham winters are unforgiving.” he answered. Horus hummed, a small smirk playing on his lips.   
  
“Wanna help me get warm~? I have comfortable covers. I’ve heard rolling in them will heat them up faster. Red Hood looked at the other with disbelief and disgust. Before he could refuse Horus started giggling. “No need to look so repulsed by the idea of sleeping with me. I’d let you wear a blindfold. I don’t judge.” he winked. Red Hood’s expression was unamused. Horus rolled his eyes. “Whatever. There are others who’d sleep with me.” he said , turned his back and started walking away.    
  
“Don’t use sex as selfharm.” Red Hood felt the need to advice. Horus turned around again and smiled.    
  
“Thanks.”    
He looked like he was about to leave again, then he walked over and stood almost uncomfortably close to the vigilante. “Can I kiss your cheek at least? Or steal a hug?”   
Red Hood was about to refuse, but sighed and held out his arms. Horus hugged him, then stood on his toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you… Not just for this, but for just… Being here. I think it made this mess more bearable… Wanna meet up on Christmas too? That will be a whole other hell to talk through.”   
Red Hood shrugged.   
  
“If I see you I’ll see you, if I don’t then I won’t,”    
Horus giggled.   
  
“Cryptic, but not a no~ I’ll take what I can get.”   
Red Hood got another hug, this one tighter. Red Hood felt something kinda heavy be put in the inner pocket of his jacket.    
Horus pulled away and gave a mock salute.    
“See you when I see you.” he said and walked off the roof with confidence and ease, if a little unsteady. Red Hood hurried to the edge and saw Horus wave on the ground, safe and unharmed. The villain (?) blew him a kiss before leaving, hands in the pockets of his sweater.    
  
Red Hood sighed with some sort of relief and decided to check what was added to his pockets. He chuckled when he pulled out the thermos with Glögg. It wasn’t completely empty and he shook his head to himself.    
  
Horus was a strange, mysterious little fella.    
But maybe he’s not as bad as Red Hood had previously thought.   
  
He was just a little broken, and this little meeting had reminded him once again that behind the glasses, mocking words and teasing grins, Horus was a human after all. With feelings of his own.    
Maybe, just maybe, Red Hood would be going on a slightly longer patrol on christmas. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Lucia everyone! (December 13th)  
> Even though no one really celebrates it/her.


End file.
